Package for strand material



June 2, 1936. w. c. PROTZ PACKAGE FOR STRAND MATERIAL Filed June 27, 1934 X 5 W //,nw, J m M 7,2 5 7.. 6 121 Z W J a 9 1 11 fi vfl a z z 3 V w I 4 P nted June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE National Tinsel Manufacturing Company,

Manitowoc, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 27, 1934, Serial No. 732,705

6 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to a package for use in displaying and merchandising elongated strips or strands of material, such as the silver strands used on Christmas trees to simulate icicles.

More specifically the present invention relates to a novel card or support adapted to sustain the strand material in a predetermined position within a display box or carton forming a protective covering for the material.

It has been heretofore proposed to market such material in boxes, the material being secured to a supporting card in some manner. The cards heretofore used have, however, not been entirely satisfactory because they permit the strands of material to become crushed and are diflicult to insert in the boxes.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a card or backing sheet which may be inserted within a box with great facility and that will retain the strand material secured thereto in proper display position without injuring it.

Another object of the present invention resides in providing a backing card with means for guiding it into position within a box and for positioning the card therein.

A further object of the present invention resides in providing a backing card with means forming a part of the card for retaining the central body portion in spaced relation to the sides of a box.

A still further object of the present invention resides in providing a backing card with means for preventing the crushing of the strand material at the point where it is gathered together for attachment to the backing sheet.

Other objects will appear from the appended claims and detailed description when studied in connection with the attached drawing wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of the backing card of the present invention showing the strand material secured thereto and distributed over one face thereof.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the card about to be telescoped into position within the box with the strand material thereon.

Figure 3 is an end view of a package of strand material showing the backing card of the present invention in its assembled relation in the box or carton.

Figure 4 is an elevational view of a package containing strand material showing the preferred perforated display face of the box.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4 showing how the strand material is supported adjacent the display opening by the backing card.

With continued reference to the drawing wherein like reference characters are utilized to represent the same parts throughout the several figures 5 the numeral I 0 indicates generally the backing card of the present invention.

Card ID is made by stamping it from a sheet of card. board or the like. The card comprises a central body portion ll, longitudinal tapering marginal strips l2 as illustrated, a securing tongue 13, a pair of circular apertures I 4 and a rectangular opening I5 provided along its upper transverse edge with a plurality of saw teeth l6.

Marginal strips 12 are adapted to be bent out 15 of the plane of body ll along the scored lines represented by the dot and dash lines IT.

A quantity of strand material I 8 is looped around tongue l3 by momentarily forcing the free end I9 of tongue l3 out of the plane of the body and slipping the strands I8 behind the tongue so that the ends of the strands will fall from apertures I4 over face 20 of body portion H. The free ends of the strands I8 extend below the saw teeth l6 of body portion H and are distributed in a uniform manner over face [9 due to the teeth 16 separating the strands.

With the strand material l8 secured to card I!) in the manner just described the card It] is ready for insertion into a parallelepiped box 22. Lower end 23 of box 22 is first opened with the usual side flaps 24 and the conventional closing flap 25 extending downward (see Figure 2). The end 26 of card Ill is then started into the box 22 with the sloping or cam surfaces 21 contacting edge 28 of box 22. Card I!) is then telescoped into box 22 and the cam surfaces 2'! cause the strands to be pressed toward the front wall of the box, the strips 12 assuming the position shown in Figure 3 to thus force body portion II to be bowed 40 away from the wall 29 of box 22 which is apertured at 3|. Aperture 3i is preferably covered with a transparent pane 32. It will be seen that due to the novel construction of card In that the strand material will be gradually slid into the box in such a manner that the strands will not come into contact with any of the sharp edges of the box and consequent rupture and/or crushing of the strands will be eliminated.

It will furthermore be apparent that the card I 0 will be retained in the position shown in Figure 3 under a slight tension due to the bowing of body portion H. The tension thus has been found to be sufiicient to prevent relative movement between the card and box and thus prevent 5 rumpling of the strands in handling. Since the card In engages the walls of box 22 along lines 34 and 35 it will be apparent that the strands 18 will bear very lightly against the inner side of wall 29 and will not be crushed along the gathered area 3'! adjacent tongue 13.

From the above description it will be apparent that a very simple and readily assembled package has been provided by the present invention without in any way impairing the attractive appearance of the packages now in use.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from thespirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A package for use in displaying and. merchandising strand material comprising a box having an apertured wall, a card adapted to fit within said box, a tongue adjacent one end of said card adapted to have a plurality of strands of material looped around it with the free ends of the material falling loosely on either side of said tongue and on one face of said card, means on the other end of said card for uniformly distributing the free ends of the strands in a thin layer over said face of said card, means comprising marginal strips, a part of which are of approximately the same width as the depth of said box extending outwardly from the face of said card opposite that upon which the free ends of said strand material are disposed whereby the strand material is positioned in close proximity to the apertured wall of said box throughout the portion thereof overlying that portion of the card upon which the strands are uniformly distributed, said strips gradually decreasing in width toward the end of said card containing the tongue thereby permitting the card to be located approximately centrally of the depth of said box where the strands are bunched adjacent the tongue whereby crushing of the material at such points is prevented.

2. In a package for displaying and merchandising strand material a box having at least one apertured wall, a card having apertures adjacent one end thereof, a tongue positioned between the apertures in said card and adapted to have the central portions of a quantity of strand material looped around it in a relatively closely associated mass the ends passing through the apertures in said card and lying along the front face thereof, means adjacent the other end of said card for uniformly distributing the endi; of 'i strands over said face of said card, oifset mug-b nal strips bent from the edges of said ca rd ward the back face thereof, said strips gra increasing in width from the end of said card 5 upon which the tongue is formed to a maxin width approximately at the longitudinal. cen of said card whereby the strands on the frc face are retained in close proximity to the ape.

tured wall of the box and the extreme ends 1 10 the strand material may be freely received lnthf space provided between the back face of the card: and the box and the bunched strands around the tongue will remain uncrushed due to the taper of the marginal strips.

3. A card adapted for use in packaging strands of fragile material comprising means for looping said strands adjacent one end of said card, the free ends of said strands extending toward the opposite end of said card, a portion of said card at said loopend being shaped to guide said card into position within a box or like container, the loop end of said card being first introduced into said box or like container to prevent disarrangement of said strands.

4. A card adapted for use in packaging strands of fragile material comprising means for looping said strands adjacent one end of said card, the free ends of said strands extending toward the opposite end of said card, and marginal strips on said card, portions of said strips being tapered toward and adjacent the loop end thereof whereby said tapered portions function to guide said card into position within a box or like container, the remaining portions of said strips serving to maintain said card in proper position within said box.

5. A card adapted for use in packing strands of fragile material comprising means for looping said strands adjacent one end of said card, the 40 free ends of said strands extending toward the opposite end of said card, and marginal strips on said card, said strips being of relatively narrow width adjacent said loop end and gradually increasing in width from the loop end of said card to a maximum width approximately at the longitudinal center of said card.

6. A card adapted for use in packaging strands of fragile material in a box or like container comprising means for looping said strands adjacent one end of said card, the free ends of said strands extending toward the opposite end of said card, and means adjacent the latter end of said card to spread said strands for display, said means being located inwardly a sufficient distance from the end of said card to prevent mashing of said strands at the end of said card between the card and the adjacent portion of the box or like container.

WILLIAM C. PROTZ. 

